Sports Illustrated Speedster Article

[stall]

I kinda tripped over this article. I guess that back in the day Sports Illustrated had car reviews, who knew?

Its not quite swim suit interesting but I liked it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1129269/index.htm

Murray

[Welcome]

It was very interesting!!! Thanks for sharing

[SN-60]

What a thorough road test......Rear window area of a President Speedster..... 910 sq.in.....Who would have guessed?

[Bryan Moran]

Yes, that's an interesting find. The reviewer was favorable to Studebakers.

[Roscomacaw]

I often find it interesting that Detriot is mentioned several times - but never South Bend. Maybe writers of that era considered SB to be just a distant suburb of Detroit. Of course - in this instance - the newly minted marriage of Studebaker and Packard COULD conceivably tie the company TO Detroit - I guess.

He DOES mention that he'd installed HD shocks on his Studebaker. So maybe he was a bit biased.

[8E45E]

Interesting how he blamed the poor sales of the '53 on women....

Craig

[warrlaw1]

Ever tried to invite one into the back seat of a C/K? Nice article. Thanks for posting.

[rknight89]

If Sports Illustrated still did articles like that, I might subscribe again. Does the S.I. curse apply to Studebaker. Perhaps that article was the beginning of the end. Ya know, S.I. predicted Green Bay and Denver in the Super Bowl...Stupid curse.

[stall]

Heres another take on the Speedster

Enjoy, Murray

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News
March, 2006 - Jeff Koch
Though widely heralded in design circles when new, and correctly regarded as classic today, Studebaker's 1953 redesign was less than successful when it was new. Sales for other American brands soared while Studebaker's remained moribund; management in South Bend put it down to Detroit's heavy use of chrome accents, so Studebaker's 1955 models had redesigned bumpers and brightwork across the board.
The President Speedster seen here was Studebaker's top-of-the-line model in 1955, meant to stop the sales slide of the 1953-'54 models. Besides the new-for-1955 bumpers, the President Speedster was available with six two-tone and two three-tone paint schemes, with changing availability throughout the year. Fourteen early Presidents were dispatched around the country to drum up consumer interest in the redesign.
Even in the 1950s, car companies harked back to earlier times to name their newer models. The President name had been on Studebakers all the way back to 1927; it was dropped in 1942. The Speedster name had previously lived on a Big Six Model EK five-passenger touring car from 1923-'24.

The Speedster's list price started at $3,253, or about $800 more than a base 1955 President State hardtop. That said, the 1955 President Speedster was loaded with standard equipment including: choice of automatic or overdrive transmissions, power steering and brakes, dual exhaust, a four-barrel carburetor, "Shoemaker-stitched" diamond-quilted genuine top-grain leather seating, carpeting front and rear, a map pocket, an eight-tube radio, a Stewart-Warner 160 mph speedometer and 8,000 rpm tachometer in a striking engine-turned facing, turn signals, electric clock, tinted glass, cigarette lighter, oil filter and oil bath air cleaner, dual backup lamps, triple horns, two-speed electric wipers, tubeless whitewall tires and wire wheel covers, fog-light bumperettes, stainless roof band, specific trim including a hood-length hood ornament, Speedster nameplates and checkered emblems, and chrome-plated ashtrays, rear-view mirror, moldings and tailpipe extensions.

The Studebaker model range was facelifted for 1956, making the President Speedster a one-year-only proposition. As is the case with most limited-run cars, top-of-the-line models and one-year-only models, they are seen by collectors as the most desirable of a given year; low production numbers only bolster desirability in the long-term.
We talked to Bob Palma of Brownsburg, Indiana, technical editor for Turning Wheels, the Studebaker Drivers' Club monthly magazine, about what to check for when looking at a President Speedster. Pop it onto a lift, or expect a lot of crawling around on the ground. "The frames pretty much all rode the same 120-1/2-inch wheelbase-the frames were no stiffer on the hardtops than they were on the coupes, and there was no X-member in them, so hardtop frames were subject to more flexing, and as the most powerful car that year it tended to get driven harder."

Other issues? "Rust, rust, and more rust. Now that they're all 50 years old, you need to start by looking at the back half of the frame. These cars all had a two-piece frame, an inverted U-channel with a spot-welded plate. There was lots of opportunity for salt to wreak havoc, and they weren't that strong to begin with. These cars leaked so much that the front half of the frame got oiled down, but the rears, especially around the spring perches, get rusty." There are other telltale areas also: "At the front, the spring pockets will crack. Also, the trunk and body mounts at back corners of the trunk, plus the panels behind the outer fenders, will go.

"And even if the frame is good, Studebakers were notorious for rust in the driver structure-particularly around the A-pillars, the bottoms of the hinge pillars, where the door hinges attach to the body, and the driver's floor. If you find a restoration project, lift the carpets and see where the hinge post is supposed to be attached. If it's attached, the rest of the car is probably O.K. Sometimes it's been braced or has had sheetmetal added. Lift up and down on the door, and if the hinge post flexes noticeably at the bottom, things are pretty bad."

Many trim items are reproduced, though the plastic inserts in the tops of the front fenders may be tougher than most. Ed Reynolds of Greenfield, Indiana, is the expert here, as he has reproduced more than his share of Studebaker trim parts over the years. Some, however, are nearly irreplaceable: "The toughest thing about putting a Speedster back together is the dash. Almost everything on the body will interchange with all the other 1955 models, but the engine-turned dash assembly was completely unique to Speedsters. It looked similar to the '56 dash but it was more flat. The radios interchange with other '55s, but if you find a Speedster with the dash missing, you're looking at big money to find a correct one; the dash is 90 percent of the Speedster's uniqueness. A lot of these have ended up in non-Speedsters over the years precisely because they are so unique. The pulse motor drive tachometer may be pulled out. It's not changeable with later tachs since the '55s had a 6-volt positive ground, while the '56 models had a 12-volt negative ground."
ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
Engine type: OHV V-8, iron block and cylinder heads
Displacement: 259.2 cubic inches
Bore x Stroke: 3.56 x 3.25 inches
Compression Ratio: 7.5:1
Horsepower @ rpm: 185 @ 4,500
Torque @ rpm: 258-ft.lbs. @ 1,800
Fuel System: Single four-barrel Carter WCFB carburetor
Weight: 3,301 pounds
1955 PRODUCTION
Total: 2,215
420 built in Los Angeles
1,795 built in South Bend
81 built for export
CLUB SCENE
Studebaker Drivers Club
P.O. Box 1715
Maple Grove, Minnesota 55311
763-420-7829
Dues: $27.50/year; Membership: 12,500+

https://www.studebakerdriversclub.com

PARTS PRICES
Brake master cylinder - $65
Carburetor repair kit - $40
Connecting Rods - $120/set
Emergency brake cable - $55
Exhaust manifold - $48.50
Front springs - $150/pair
Front shocks - $89/pair
Horn relay - $12
Parking lamps - $40/pair
Valve cover decal - $12/pair
WHAT TO PAY
Project: $3,000
Poor: $8,000
Good: $17,000
Concours: $28,000
This article originally appeared in the March, 2006 issue of Hemmings Motor News.